Motor bus



MOTOR BUS Filed Jan. 1'7, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ewa/don' y www March 9 1926.

J. D. EGGLEsToN MOTOR BUS Filed Jan. 1'?, 1923 2 sheets-sheet 2 sort of structure is-not capable of being' Patented Mar. 9, 1926.'

UNITED STATES JESSE D. EGGLESTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOTOR BUS.

Application led January 17, 1923. Serial No. 613,093;

To ZZ lw/Lom 'it 'may concern.'

Be it known that I, JESSE D. EGGLns'roN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at' Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Motor Busses, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a motor bus for passenger traffic which can be easily maneuvcred in city streets and suburban and country roads, which Will'afford maximum comfort and ease to the passengers, and which can be operated and maintained economically.

The demand for passenger transportation by motor bus is steadily growing because of the great convenience afforded thereby to travelers, the extensive work done in'laying good roads suitable for 'such travel, and the economy of operation, and this demand exists not only for city and suburban service, but between cities and to trips of greater or less length.

The use of motor busses for sight seeing purposes and for general passenger transportation has existed for some time, principally in the larger cities. But the industry is comparatively new and not 'sulficicnt consideration has been given to the convenience and comfort of the passengers or to the facility of handling or the cost of operating and maintaining them.v

It has been customary heretofore to construct the bus a's a singlestructure with'the passenger compartment' and the motor combined in one single unit supported upon four carrying wheels over which the combined load is unevenly distributed. This made comfortable for the passengers because they are Asubjected to all the shocks and jars incident to the 'operation of the motor, the shift-ing of gears, the applica.- tion of brakes and the twists' and turns necessary toguide the vehicle. Furthermore, the presence of the motor in the same structure with the passenger compartment inevitably results in subjecting' the passengers to the obnoxious odors of imperfect combustion in the motor. After a considerable study of existing conditions I have Y found that while motor bus transportation is highly desirable and now very greatly demanded, the busses conmmonly employed for this purpose are open to a greater or `less extent to the objections heretofore mentioned and to many others; and it Vis my object to lmprove the conditions by providing a motor bus which will, so far as possible, avoid the objectionable conditions now existing and provide a' motor bus which will givecomfortable transportation to the passengers, as well as being easy to enter and leave, which will be free from the ordinary vibrations incident to the use of a motor as a power medium, whichy is capable of making a sharp corner turn and 'of turnlng completely-l around in a city street even when built of comparatively large capacity, and which is lovi7 hung to avoid possibility of overturning.

The invention has other objects in view which will be pointed out hereinafter in the description of a selected embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away and partly in section illustrating the invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are horizontal sectional views on the lines 2 2 and 3 3 respectively of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, 5 designates 'generally the body of the bus or the compartment unit and. 6 is the tractor or motor unit, the front end portion of the body unit and the rear end portion of the motor unit being connected at 7 so that the motor unit may turn in an arc of 180 or more relative to the body unit. The forward part of the body is recessed at 8 to receive the rear end portion of the motor unit which projects under .and supports the front end portlon of the body unit. -The motor unit is carried on two' front steering wheels 9 and two rear driving` wheels 10, as is customaryA in xmotor driven vehicles, and the rear end of the body'is carried on two wheels l1. Thus the load is distributed over six wheels which are mounted on three axles 9', 10 and 11', and I prefer that the four wheels 10 and 11 should be wide tired wheels. I estimate that, generally speaking, 45% of the load is carried on the wheels 11 .of the body unit or trailer, 45%, on the traction wheels 10, and 10% onr the front Wheels 9, whereby the'load is most conveniently and satisfactorily distributed for transportation purposes and in a manner which facilitates steering the vehicle. The motor unit is provided with a cab 12,for the driver and this cab is located just in Vfrgnifot the front enel ca V of the trailer. A suitable motor is, of course,

provided beneath the hood 13.

The body unit or trailer may be made in many'dift'erent ways, but I have found the construction illustrated in -the drawings not only suitable, but presenting many practical advantages, and for that reason I have selected this embodiment for illustration. The body is provided with a side door 14 and a folding step 15 which can be automatically operated, if desired after the man-- ner of operating some street-car doors and steps at the present time. I-prefer to locate this door on the right hand side closely adjacent to the front compartment 16 ofthe body which is dened generally by the recessed portion 8, and is separated by a transverse partition 17 from the main passenger compartments 18, 19, located upon the lower deck 2O Aand the upper deck 21. I have pro- Vvided'but one enclosed `compartment at the front of the .trailer unit on the deck 22, and' 27 are shown in the open compartment 23.

The front end of 4the trailer unit is curved or rounded as shown at 28, and the outside wall of the compartment 16 is provided with a plurality of Windows 29 which are arranged most satisfactorily for observing the scenery. The top of the cab 12 is sufficiently low so as not t-o obscure the view from the front windows in the compartment 16. The

open or observation compartment 23 is surrounded by a. wall 30 ofsuiiioient height to protect the passengers occupying the compartment and this'wall is preferably made'of wire mesh.

lVithin the lower compartment 18 I provide an open space 31 (Fig. 3) `adjaoent the door 14 for the passage of passengers to and from the sea-ts 32 on the lower deck and to and from the stairway leading to the compartments 16, 19 and 23. This stairway com-l prises a Hight of steps 33 preferably located about midway between the sides of the body or trailer unit and rising in a forwardly direct-ion thereof to a platform 34 in front of the doorway 25 leading to the compartment 16. Then a flight of steps 35 with a turn at the bottom thereof rises rearwardly from the'platform 34 to an open space 36 on the upper deck 21 (Fig. 2) to lead to the seats 37 1n the upper compartment 19. Another aight olf steps 38 rises forwardly from the open space 36 to the deck24 through a doorway 39 which, like the doorway 25, may be equipped with a door of any suitable descriptionor with suitable hangings. This stairwa. comprising the flights33. 35 and 38 com ined with the platform 34 and the deckspaces 31, 36, provides a compact and convenient arrangement for the movement of passengers to and from the several compartments. The conducto-r may be stationed on the deck space 31 where he can give close attention to the door 14 and to the passengers entering and leaving the bus, and general attention to all of the compartments and the passengers therein. The seats 32 and 3T may be variously constructed as desiredand so may the seats 40, 4l and 42, which are disposed on the decks 18 and 19 adjacent the stairway. lfVindows 43 are provided for th'e compartment 18 and windows 44 for tho compartment 19.

My invention provides a bus with a plurality of compartments conveniently arranged and easily accessible so that passengers may have a choice of sitting forward in an inclosed smoking compartment or on. an open deck, or in the more commodious l rear compartments on the lower and upper decks. The stairway is constructed, located and arranged to give convenient access to the various compartments with the greatest convenience -to the passengers; the compartments are commodious and are capable of being furnished with seats constructed and disposed to promote comfort to the passengers. The disposition of the passengers in a` semi-trailer unit., which is hitched to a motor unit but otherwise' not connected therewith is particularly important beca-use it enables the provision of convenient and commodious passenger compartments, it promotes the comfort of the passengers and it promotes economy of operation. The four wheels 10 and 11 are preferably wide tired and the load of the complete bus is diS- tributed most efficiently for economical operation. The drop frame construction of the body is preferably mounted on a drop axle 11 so that the level of the deck 20 is located close to the ground. whereby passengers can easily enter and leave the bus with or without using the step 15.

My improved bus may be made of much larger capacity per motor horse power than has been customary herebefore because the weight is distributed in a manner which will ena-ble the motor to operate with greater efficiency. The passengers are relieved from the annoyance of noises and vibrations produced by the motor and from shifting of gears, applying brakes, starting and stopping the bus, etc. because the passengers are carried in the trailer unit which is separate from the motor unit; The trailer unitis carnal 0a e three-point Suspension and hence the shocks and vibrations of traveling over rough roads which are experienced in the ordinary four-wheeled vehicle having the motor therein are greatly minimized and almost entirely avoided in my improved bus. The overlapping arrangement of the forward end of the trailer unit and the rear end of the power unit provides great ilexibility of operation and enables the bus to be turned in a comparatively short radius so that it can be easily maneuvered through crowded city streets.

My improved bus can be variously equipped for short haul or for long haul service; its several compartments can be differently equipped to suit the v-aried tastes of passengers; and the seating arrangement may be changed in various ways as may be found most suitable and agreeable for the service for which the bus is designed. y

It is of the highest importance that a m0- `tor bus should be comfortable to passenger in entering and leaving the bus, and while .riding therein; that the bus should be built and equipped for safety in travel and ease of operation; and that the cost of construction and of operation should be economical. I believe that my improved bus achieves these objects in a higher degree than has ever before been accomplished so that this Vdesirable mode o-f travel can be promoted with profit-to the traveling public, Vas well as to lthose providing the servlce.

I have shown the invention 'embodied in' 'invention to busses of different capacitles,

and for different kinds of service, and for other reasons, and therefore I reserve the right to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope ofthe following claims I claim:

1. A- motor busv comprising a compartment unit having lower and upper rear compartment decks, a forward compartment deck in al plane intermediate of the rearcompartment decks, an upper forward compartment deck above the pla-ne ofthe upper vrear compartment deck, a door for the lower rear compartment, and a stairway rising forwardly from the lower rear compartment deck to the level of the lower forward compartment deck and thence rising rearwardly to the upper rear compartment deck and thence rising' forwardly to the upper forward compartment deck.

2. A motor bus comprising a compartment unit having a lower rear compartment deck close to the ground, an upper rear compartment deck forming a ceiling for the lower rear compartment, a forward compartment deck located in a plane between the rear compartment decks, an open compartment deck forming a ceiling for the forward compartment, a transverse partition located between the rear compartments and the forward and open compartments, doorways in said partition to saidforward compartment and to said open compartment, a doorway for the lower rear compartment, and a. stairway rising from said lower rear compartment deck to said forward compartment deckand thence to said upper rear compartment deck and thence to said open compartment deck.

3. A motor bus comprising a power unit and a body unit, a transverse partition dividing the body unit into a rear portion and a front portion and the front portion being arranged to rest upon the power unit, upper and lower passenger' compartments in the rear portion of the body unit, and upper and lower passenger compartments in thefron portion of the body unit.

4. A motor bus comprising a power unit and a compartment unit, the latter having a closed compartment resting on the power unit, closed upper and lower compartments communicating with said first named compartment., and an open compartment communicating with one of the closed compartments.

5. A motor bus comprising a power unit and a compartment unit, the latter having a closed compartment restingfon the power unit, an open compartment on top of said first named compartment, and closed vupper andl lower compartments communicating with either ofsaid two first named compartments.

JESSE D. EGGLEsToN. 

